# Timeline of Muscat

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Muscat, Oman.

## Prior to 20th century

* 550 BCE – Achaemenids in power (approximate date).
* 100s CE – Migration of Arab tribes from Yemen.
* 633 CE – Regional Islamization.
* 696 CE – Umayyad army attempting to seize Muscat was defeated.
* 865 CE – Flood destroy a portion of the city.
* 1507 – City taken by Portuguese forces under command of Afonso de Albuquerque.
* 1522 – Uprising against Portuguese rule.
* 1546 – City bombarded by Ottoman ships without landing.
* 1552 – Capture of Muscat (1552) by Ottoman forces under Piri Reis for a brief period.
* 1581 – City pillaged by Ottomans under command of Piri Reis before withdrawing.
* 1586-1588 – Fort al-Jalali and Fort al-Mirani completed.
* 1624 – Construction begins of "earthen land wall" around city.
* 1640 – City attacked by forces of Nasir bin Murshid.
* 1648 – City besieged by Nasir ibn Murshid but Portuguese sued for peace.
* 1650 – City taken by forces of Sultan bin Saif; Portuguese ousted.
* 1670 – Dutch East India Company factory established.
* 1738 – Muscat occupied by forces of Muhammad Taqi Khan of Fars.
* 1740s – Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi in power.
* 1792 – Albusaidi monarch Hamad ibn Said relocates the capital of Oman from Rustaq to Muscat.
* 1800 – British representative of the British East India Company takes residence in Muscat.
* 1806 – Said bin Sultan in power.
* 1832 – Capital of the Omani empire relocated from Muscat to colonial Zanzibar by Said bin Sultan.
* 1845 – Bait al-Falaj Fort built.
* 1856 – Thuwaini bin Said becomes sultan of the newly formed Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and his capital is Muscat.
* 1879 – The United States consulate is established in Muscat.
* 1890 – Cyclonic storm flooding kills 700 people.
* 1893 – Hospital established.
* 1894 – French consulate established.
* 1899 – Bubonic plague strikes at Muscat.

## 20th century

* 1928 – Al-Sa'idiyah School established.
* 1929 – Vehicular road into city built "by the hacking out of a one-lane track through the mountains."
* 1932 – Said bin Taimur becomes sultan.
* 1939 – Municipal council established.
* 1943 – Bombing of ship in harbor by Japanese forces.
* 1948 – British Bank of the Middle East branch in business.
* 1949 – Municipal Law for the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman issued.
* 1951 – Indian consulate established.
* 1952 – Population: 4,200 in town (approximate estimate).
* 1960 – Population: 5,080 in town; 6,208 urban agglomeration (approximate estimate).
* 1962 – Muttrah-Muscat road paved.
* 1963 – Slavery abolished.
* 1967 – Petroleum Development Oman headquartered in Muscat.
* 1968 – Electric power plant commissioned in Riyam.
* 1970 – Qaboos bin Said al Said in power.
* 1972
** June: Muttrah and Muscat merge to form the Muscat Municipality.
** Al Alam Palace built.
* 1973
** Seeb Airport opens.
** British School – Muscat established.
* 1974
** Port Sultan Qaboos built in Muttrah.
** Museum of Omani Heritage opens.
* 1975
** Office of municipality president established.
** Times of Oman newspaper begins publication.
* 1981
** Oman Daily Observer newspaper begins publication.
** Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and Ministry of Petroleum built.
* 1984 – Muscat Governorate established.
* 1985
** Gulf Cooperation Council meets in Muscat.
** Al-Bustan Palace Hotel in business.
** Oman Natural History Museum opens.
* 1986 – Sultan Qaboos University opens.
* 1987 – Royal Hospital built.
* 1988
** Muscat Securities Market established.
** Alwatan newspaper in publication.
** French embassy built.
* 1990 – Oman Children's Museum established.
* 1992 – Omani French Museum established.
* 1993
** 40,856 in city.
** Dam and Oman International Bank built.
** Oman Society for Fine Arts established.
* 1995 – Oman Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre established.
* 1996 – National Hospitality Institute headquartered in city.
* 1998 – Bait al Zubair museum opens.

## 21st century

* 2001
** Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque built.
** Muscat Gate Museum opens.
** Population: 685,676 in governorate.
* 2006 – Bait Al Baranda (house museum) opened.
* 2010 – Al-Musannah Sports City opened.
* 2011
** Royal Opera House Muscat opened in Shati Al-Qurm.
* 2012 – Muscat Expressway built.
* 2013 – Fish souk rebuilt.
* 2018
** Swedish EDM producer Avicii died by suicide in Muscat.
** Population: 315,443 (estimate).
* 2020
** in January 2020, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said became the new successor of Oman after the sad demise of the then His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.
** NOC (No Objection Certificate) abolished amidst COVID-19.